Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid post-training media chat

(On Columbus Crew match . . .) “Well offensively I thought it was our best output of the season in terms of being able to get behind defenses and play well. It allowed us to get Zakuani to different parts of the field. It allowed him to get into the middle more which I think helped and obviously he got the goal from there as well. We got to get him not just being a straight forward winger all the time. So I think it was helpful that way. Defensively I think we solved most of the problems that we needed to. Now we just need to work on our cohesion and that everybody understands what the duties and responsibilities are from the certain positions.”(On how he feels about 4-3-3 formation . . .) “I feel pretty good about it. It’s pretty flexible. We can always drop into a 4-4-2 out of that. Those are all numbers things anyways. It’s a matter of trying to get guys to use their talents as much as possible.”

(On the new 4-3-3 formation . . .) “In terms of shutting the opponent down, you still have to keep track of their key players. Every team has key players. Obviously when Columbus gets into a crossing situation you have to know where [Steven] Lenhart is and you got to know where [Guillermo Barros] Schelotto is because he’s the guy who is going to slip people through. I thought we did a really good job on Guillermo. [. . .] Obviously as we go into L.A., [Edson] Buddle is on fire right now so somebody’s got to step forward and say, ‘Hey, you know what? He ain’t scoring against us.’ The team has to take that approach. To stop him at center forward you have to stop the service and so we have to make sure we take care of Landon [Donovan] who has been the main supplier of assists. We have to know where those guys are when we don’t have the ball.”(On how team is improving . . .) “I think we are starting to play better. [Peter] Vagenas helps on position in midfield and by allowing us to hold a little longer gives these guys a little more confidence in making runs because they don’t feel like if I make a run and we turn it over, now I have to sprint back and defend. I think by having Ljungberg play more out of midfield, he was able to make some dangerous late runs and if Montero drops and he goes forward that’s great but also we need to keep a center forward there and Montero needs to keep that high position. But now they can each be effective in their own area of the field which is important as well for us to be effective as a team. I think it was a combination of us just playing better and by us just playing this way, getting some roles and responsibilities defined made it a little clearer.”(On Sounders FC injuries . . .) “Fucito’s is just a really strange injury. We think it’s getting better but it’s a weird one. It’s not something you would ever expect that that would keep somebody out that long and it’s just a really freakish, fluky thing. But we think he is getting better and we will have a better idea this afternoon. Noonan is getting better. We wanted him to just go a little easier today and we will see what he can do in training tomorrow. Evans came out and we will see how he feels coming in tomorrow but he’s felt better each day so his might be more of a Tyrone [Marshall] thing where maybe he is able to be on the bench next week or maybe he’s even ready to play. We will have to see.”